It's Friday!

   What do I do on Friday? Revisit San Xavier Mission, for their 8:30 Mass....today, no exception, despite high winds that threatened to take me as far as the Pacific...

           The Mass is made so special, by the kids from the reservation.  They sing so sweetly, do the readings, get so excited with the whole 'Peace be with you' bit and are fun to watch as they strive to stay still and listen.
           Good Mass today, I bought my candles, lit one for Kimmy at the front of the church and followed Sister Dolores and children into Mary's sanctuary, where she gave a dialogue on how to pray, what the meaning of the statues are and asked me where I was from.  "I'm from here, Sister" I told her. "I was married right here and am lighting a candle for my wife.".  And I did.  Kimmy's beautiful picture still graces Mary's altar - I don't know how long they keep momentos up...but she was still there today, eyes bright, smile so contagious.
           I had a lot of running to do, afterwards...it was time to get my real estate career back on track.  Kimmy encouraged this - 'A great safety net, Dave' - as you never know what is going to happen..."I'm  a 'plan B' person", Kimmy used to always tell me....me too! 
          I stopped at Trader Joe's, on Swan and Grant, on my way to Old Adobe Realty.  Sporting my Del Piero, Juventus away jersey that Kimmy had ordered for me for Christmas, but, sadly, never got a chance to see, a young man who worked there approached and told me he liked my jersey...his name badge read 'Emerson'.  'I know you', I told him by way of answer.  He back peddled, but spewed out possibilities...I told him I worked at Toys R Us for 15 years and that was it!  "Who did you know there?"  I asked...'Celeste', Emerson answered.  Emerson and Celeste were some good people that I was blessed to meet during my Toys R Us stint.  I told him to tell Celeste hello, bought some great groceries and was on my way!

           I promised Yolanda, 'Call me Yo', from Old Adobe, that I'd bring her a Cafe Americano from Starbucks, so stopped there....my mom had told me, regarding O.D'ing on coffee, that indeed, I could O.D. on coffee...it's called a stroke.  So, instead of a Cafe Americano, that I was jonesing for, I got a trenta iced tea.  Trenta.  30 beautiful ounces of iced tea...a new offering that has delighted me.  I was about the millionth person in line, but the baristas moved through the throngs like a warm knife through butter.
           Yo helped bring me back up to speed on real estate law and contracts and introduced me to Hillary, an agent with Old Adobe.  We got to be talking and it turns out that Hillary's husband is a right hand man, or tech for Dr. Atikinson, who performed Kimmy's gall bladder surgery!  Small world.
          OK, so I'm back in business.  Again, Kimmy being a 'plan B' person, had encouraged me to get a real estate license, as a means to get out of the clothing business at Kohl's.  I plan to donate 10% of my comissions to Kimmy's Foundation and 10% to Vail schools. 
           Once done being updated by Yo, and full of iced tea caffeine...I headed to pick up signs that Kimmy had me order last year and I never got a chance to pick up...then, hungry (yeh, forgot to eat breakfast), I made a bee line to Viro's for lunch...I won't eat alone.  Vito's dad, Vincenzo, greeted me - he's such a nice man, about 4'9" and I told him "Come stai!"  "Bene, bene", he replied and asked me how I was "menza, menza", I told him - so, so.  He sat and ate lunch with me and spoke in rapid Italian, which I had no hope in keeping up with him....but it was good to see him after 3 years or so.
          By this time, I deduced, that my trenta iced tea had plenty of caffeine in it, so why deprive myself one of the incredible cappuccino's that Viro's makes?  I had Robert hook me up, and he delivered a very strong, delicious cappuccino and I was wired for the day!  I figured, if I'm going to die, what a way to go!
          I met up with Angie, after lunch, who had made us some vodka sauce, using Kimmy's recipe, and had some beautiful lemons to give me! 
           Then, off to pick up Aut at Cottonwood.  Tonio was going to his friend, Mano's house to play after school.  Autumn, like her Mama, is so shy, that is hard for her to make friends, and Lexy and Hadley are about the only ones she is really comfortable with.  So I invited Betsey, Brian, Hadley and Mitch over for dinner and told Amy, Tom and Alex to join us, too.  We ate fish tacos and I made two different salsas for chip dipping and the tacos.
            We played Dance Party on Wii until we were ready to drop!  I kicked Aut's butt!  Sorry, no photos.  And no strokes, either.  The caffeine has worn off, the bambini are getting ready for bed and had a good day...it's the weekend!
             Only Antonio was left standing when it was time to say good night to Mama...'Whoa, look at the moon', he exclaimed when we went outside...my ribcage hurting...just like Kimmy's was back in October...too much cafeine?  Too much salsa?  Too many beers?  Not sure, but Tonio and I said our good nights and went back in to watch a movie together...the cold winds blowing in a storm for us...
                Love,
                         Dave